“…Fortunately, those men were not too stupid,” Alnea said, breathing a sigh of relief. Only after those men had long vanished from his sight, of course. Just to be sure, he even double checked with Daes and Tia to ensure that they were not being spied upon. Be it by the men they had left behind, or the other Wanderers around them. Though even they could not detect the Spirit fluctuations of Wanderers above the Fourth Stage of the True Rank.

  Then again, if they were being targeted by Wanderers above the Fourth Stage, then there was nothing they could do anyway, except hope that those people would also not be too stupid. Maybe, they might even be dissuaded by his words…

  “What? Is our hero feeling scared now?” Cecilia said, with a hint of dissatisfaction leaking into her voice. “I thought you enjoyed sacrificing yourself.”

  “…I was not sacrificing myself.”

  “Right. Everything was in your ‘plan’… Are you really not going to think about changing your name to Alnea Reckless?”

  “…It was not that reckless.”

  “You just mocked a True Wanderer to his face.”

  “…Alright, maybe that does sound a little reckless.”

  “A little?”

  “But everyone could see that those men were just bluffing. Or they would not have wasted so much time in talking. Maybe they also needed an excuse to back down.”

  “Or an excuse to attack you,” Cecilia said. “What if those men really were too stupid?”

  “Then I would have made them regret being born,” Daes said, before taking out some Glyph Tokens from her storage ring. Ones that looked similar in size and shape to the communication token she had used earlier, but came in a shade of blue instead of white, with no emblems or lightning engraved on its surface.

  “Still, just in case, it would be best if you hang on to these tokens.”

  Alnea glanced at the tokens in Daes hands, and after some hesitation, picked one up, prompting the others to do the same.

  “Is it a shield?”

  “Not just any shield, but a lightning shield. One that can both, defend, and attack.”

  “…Thank you.”

  “…No need to thank me. This is what I should do.”

  “But I still need to show my gratitude.”

  “Well, if you really want to thank me, then how about—

  “On second thought, you are right. It will not be long before you become my Dependent. I really should stop treating you like a stranger.”

  “Tsk.”

  Ignoring the dissatisfied Daes, who kept lamenting at the missed opportunity, Alnea glanced at Cecilia, and said, “This should reassure you, right?”

  “…It does,” Cecilia said, glancing at Daes. “But now, I am worried for an entirely different reason.”

  “…Stop fooling around, Daes,” Tia said, glancing at Daes from the corner of her eyes, before shifting her attention to the building that stood just some hundred metres away. “We are almost at the Blood Hall.”

  And so were hundreds of other Wanderers, converging towards the Blood Hall from all directions.

  “Is the Blood Hall always so crowded?”

  “This is a first for me too,” Daes mumbled, shaking her head. “I have never seen more than a couple hundred people in the Blood Hall at once. And that is including the people working in the Blood Hall.”

  “Yet, there seems to be around five hundred people just near the stairs,” Vestia said. “And I have a hunch that the number will only keep on growing…”

  “…These bas—

  “Lia.”

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “…Do they have nothing else do?”

  “Well, look at the bright side,” Vestia said. “At least they are not blocking our path.”

  Because they did not need to. There was already a group of Wanderers, about twenty in number, waiting for Alnea near the Blood Hall’s entrance. And the moment they noticed him nearing the stairs, they marched towards him, surrounding him, along with the girls and his Dependents. And as if that was not enough, they even drew their weapons, mostly swords and spears. All without saying a word.

  “…You were saying something,” Cecilia said, glaring at Vestia, while clenching the Glyph Token in her hands. “Is this your bright side?”

  “…This is not my fault,” Vestia said, refusing to accept responsibility for setting up the flag, while mirroring Cecilia’s actions. As did Alnea and Yuri. After all, they were all just False Wanderers. What help could they provide against a group of True Wanderers?

  Not that Tia would fare any better against so many enemies. Especially since they looked much more organised than the rag tag army formed by the Lotus clan’s alliance. Still, just because they knew they were no match for their enemies, did not mean that they were afraid. Daes, in particular, even looked a little excited, as she retrieved a bunch of Glyph Tokens from her storage ring, holding three of them in each hand.

  “It is indeed not our fault,” Daes said, increasing the strength in her hands, preparing to crush the tokens, and summon the Mysteries of the Origin Sea. “Since they have drawn their weapons, then they must be—

  Alnea reached out to grab Daes’ left hand, interrupting her actions before she could do anything irreversible.

  “Remember what I told you, Daes.”

  “…Tsk. You are no fun,” Daes said, loosening her grip around her Glyph Tokens, but did not put them away. Alnea did not mind though. Rather, he preferred it that way. The Glyph Tokens would work perfectly as a deterrent. And Origin knew he needed some of it at the moment. So, instead of persuading Daes anymore, he turned towards the only man who did not have a weapon in his hands.

  “You—

  “Let me handle this, Alnea,” Tia said, shaking her head. “These people are not here representing their clans, but the city itself.”

  “…Is it the city’s council?”

  “…Perhaps,” Tia said, before following Alnea’s gaze to look at the man without any weapons. “Asking your men to draw their weapons right in front of a Blood Hall… I thought you were supposed to enforce the city’s rules, not flout it, Nathiel.”

  “I do not need you to teach me about the city’s rules,” the man said with a scowl, before shifting his gaze to Alnea. “Alnea Tresting, is it?”

  “Idiot,” Daes said with a sneer. “Is that how you call a Blood Lord?”

  “Blood Lord?” the man said, sneering in return. “Just because he has the privileges of a Blood Lord, does not mean that he is a Blood Lord.”

  “So, you do already know his information,” Daes said. “Who was it? Tivya? Nanya?”

  “That does not concern you.”

  “Maybe… But he still has the privileges of a Blood Lord. Are you sure that you want to point your weapons at him?”

  “…You should already have your answer.”

  “…What do you mean?”

  “You will know what I mean in a while,” the man said, before glancing at Tia. “For the sake of the years we have known each other, let me give you an advice, Tia. Freedom is important, but you need to have a life to enjoy that freedom. Leave while you still can. Otherwise, it will be too late to regret.”

  “…Is that a threat?”

  “It is just a fact,” the man said. “You cannot even fathom the depth of the mess you have gotten yourself into. And unlike the Thunderbird, you do not have anyone to protect you.”

  “…It is alright. I can just ask my mother to save her too.”

  “Your mother might not even be able to save you.”

  “…Really?” said an ethereal voice, drifting in the wind, reaching the ears of all the Wanderers around the Blood Hall like a soft whisper, as if the voice was coming from right next to them. Yet, when they looked, all they saw was a gust of wind, crashing against their faces, as it rushed past their encirclement, and came together to form a swirl, that soon collapsed on itself to reveal the figure of a woman. One that looked strikingly similar to Daes, just with a more mature look on her face, and clad in a white robe, with patterns of blue lightning around its borders, and the emblem of a Thunderbird carved on its chest.

  “…Mother!” Daes said, with a hint of excitement in her voice, before quickly putting on an aggrieved expression on her face. “You came right on time. They were all bullying me and my friends…”

  “…Bullying you? Are you trying to fool your own mother?” the woman said, rolling her eyes at her daughter, but could not help herself from smiling. “With the Glyph Tokens you stole from—

  “I just borrowed your Glyph Tokens!” Daes said hurriedly, as she grabbed her mother’s hand, and began pulling on it coquettishly. “You know how much I love you… And how much I will miss you when I leave the city. Those Glyph Tokens are the only things I can use to pacify my Heart…”

  “If you miss me so much, then just come with me.”

  “…You know we cannot do that. My Roots…”

  “Alright, alright, you can keep those Glyph Tokens. I made them for you anyway.”

  “I knew you were the best mother!”

  “…Seriously. When will you grow up?” the woman said, shaking her head with a wry smile, before ruffling through her daughter’s hair.

  “What are you doing?” Daes said, slapping her mother’s hand away. “Stop treating me like child!”

  “Then stop behaving like one,” the woman said, looking dotingly upon her daughter. “Do you think that you are still eighteen?”

  “Maa!” Daes said, with a hint of red climbing her cheeks. “Save some face for me. I am with my friends.”

  The woman paused, and glanced at her daughter’s ‘friends’, before nodding in appreciation.

  “Your friends are quite good. But we will talk about them later. First…” the woman said, trailing off, as she glanced back towards the man who had dared to threaten her daughter. “What were you saying, worm?”